With the upcoming presidential election, most American voters, it seems, are only seeing red and blue. But in Illinois, the Green Party is poised to challenge the state’s democratic machine.

Thanks to Rich Whitney, the Green Party’s candidate for the last governor’s race-who won 10 percent of the vote in 2006-the Illinois Green Party is now considered an established party, according to state election law. This makes it much easier for the party to run candidates without having to meet cumbersome petition requirements.

“In the past we have never had more than 17 candidates in a single year, and now we have 54 that will be on the ballot in November,” said Phil Huckelberry, chair of the Illinois Green Party.

The Green Party is committed to environmentalism, non-violence, social justice and grassroots organizing, according to its website, GP.org, and Green Party candidates do not accept any campaign contributions from corporations.

Ralph Nader, a well-known consumer advocate, ran for president in 2000 on the Green Party ticket. Many liberals, including the former Nader supporter and filmmaker Michael Moore, later accused Nader of being a spoiler who cost Al Gore the election. Nader is running for president again this year, but as an independent.

Nathan Helsabeck, a 32-year-old teacher from Oak Park, Ill., turned to the Green Party in 2000 because he said he was disillusioned with the Democrats and their lack of progressiveness.

“I guess I was just brought up to believe that democracy was about being able to vote what you believed in,” Helsabeck said. “And Al Gore and John Kerry were not saying the things I believed in.”

Helsabeck did end up casting his vote for Kerry in the 2004 presidential election, out of fear that President Bush would win the election, he said.

But he voted for Green Party candidates wherever else he could, such as for state and local offices. He said he even voted for a couple of Republicans on the ticket, such as Tony Peraica for Cook County Board President, because he was so fed up with politics in Illinois.

The Illinois Green Party will retain its established party status as long as it continues to win at least 5 percent of the vote in gubernatorial elections, which is something Huckelberry said he thinks is very likely in Illinois.

The state’s Republican Party is very weak, he said, and voters want more than just a Democratic machine running things.

“People are sick and tired of being sick and tired, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Illinois because politics here have been so bad for so long,” Huckelberry said.

In Chicago, a well-known bastion for the Democratic Party, the Greens have their sights set on challenging Democratic incumbents who would otherwise run unopposed.

“This is a one-party city, really,” Huckelberry said. “So our goal is, very simply, to become the second party in Chicago.”

One of the party’s strongest candidates is Omar Lopez, who is running for the 4th District U.S. House of Representatives seat.

“[Lopez] has been a long-time proponent of immigrant rights, and he has a very strong base of support in the Mexican-American community,” Huckelberry said. “And the way that district is drawn, it is intentionally gerrymandered to produce a Latino voting block. We think we will be able to do quite well there.”

Another candidate that the Illinois Greens think has a good shot at winning is Jeremy Karpen, who is running for State Representative in the 39th District, which includes Logan Square.

“The incumbent [in the 39th District], Toni Berrios, is the daughter of the Democratic county chairperson, Joe Berrios, and we are seeing a lot of strong reaction in the neighborhood to politics as usual and nepotism,” Huckelberry said. “And people are really happy they actually have a choice this time [because] she’s never had an opponent in the general election before.”

Bob Rudner, 56, has been an active organizer and Green Party member for more than two decades. He co-founded the Chicago Greens in 1987, but he started off as a Democrat, he said.

“The issues I was concerned with were slowly getting squeezed out of the Democratic Party, and they were slowly starting to look more like Republicans,” Rudner said.

The environment and social justice were the main issues that Rudner said he was concerned with, but he said he felt that the Democratic Party was becoming beholden to the same corporate interests that the Republicans were. Unlike the Green Party, which forbids corporate campaign contributions.

The Green Party can really distinguish itself from the Republicans and Democrats when it comes to campaign financing, especially in Illinois, where elections are bought and sold, Huckelberry said.

“Corporations aren’t people and they don’t vote, so they should not be contributing to political races,” Huckelberry said.

But the main thing the Green Party can offer to voters who are frustrated with the lack of divergence between the two major parties, is change, Huckelberry said.

“It’s an over-hyped word this year,” he said. “But the real thing we are offering is change.”

As for the presidential race, the national Green Party has Cynthia McKinney at the top of their ticket. Though it’s not likely she will garner much of the vote on Nov. 4, Rudner said he still thinks it’s important that they are running because they can raise some issues that the other candidates are not, such as single-payer universal health care coverage.

“I think there is some hope for Obama as long as we keep raising the issues,” Rudner said.

To those people worried about wasting their vote or causing Obama to

lose the election through a potential “spoiler vote” shouldn’t be concerned because Illinois is a safe state for the democratic presidential nominee, he said, which is why he will vote for the Green Party’s Cynthia McKinney.

Helsabeck said he also plans to vote for McKinney, but said he probably would not if he lived in a swing state where the race was more contentious.

Huckelberry said he recognizes that many people who identify with the Green Party probably don’t want to see the Republicans take the White House again, but he said everyone should be able to vote their conscience.

“The only wasted vote is the vote for someone who you don’t agree with or believe in,” Huckelberry said. “People should vote their hopes and not their fears.”